Beauty at War
Beauty at War | |
---|---|
Also known as | War and Beauty 2 |
Genre | Period drama Costume drama |
Written by | Chow Yuk-ming |
Starring | Sheren Tang Ada Choi Christine Ng Moses Chan Kenny Wong Eddie Kwan Raymond Cho Rachel Kan |
Opening theme | " by Christine Ng |
Ending theme | " by Christine Ng & Moses Chan |
Composer | Jacky Chan |
Country of origin | Hong Kong |
Original languages | Cantonese Mandarin |
No. of episodes | 30 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Jonathan Chik |
Camera setup | Multi camera |
Running time | 45 minutes (each) |
Production company | TVB |
Original release | |
Network | TVB Jade, HD Jade |
Release | 22 April 31 May 2013 | –
Related | |
War and Beauty (2004) |
Beauty at War | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Golden Branches Desire War Two" | ||||||||||||
|
Beauty at War (Chinese:
Plot
[edit]The Consort Dowager Shun, Niohuru Yuen-sau (Christine Ng) bears a grudge against her half-sister Niohuru Yu-yuet, the current Consort Yu (Sheren Tang) because she believed that Consort Yu faked her illness during the selection ceremony so that Yuen-sau would be chosen as a concubine of the ailing Emperor, and when the Emperor dies, Yu-yuet will become the new Emperor's consort, rising in power and status and rendering Yuen-sau's status as a consort obsolete. This presumption, coupled with the intense hatred and bitterness building up in her for years caused Yuen-sau to spread rumors about Yu-yuet being an evil and manipulative person (this is seen in the events of War and Beauty). For many years, Yu-yuet tolerated with Yuen-sau and tried her best to reconcile with her but to no avail until a kunqu troupe whom the much lauded Ko Lau Fei (Moses Chan) is a part of enters the palace that Yu-yuet had the opportunity to reach out to Yuen-sau. Because the harem forbids males from entering, the appearance of Ko Lau Fei intrigued its members including the lonely Yuen-sau and wet nurse Seung-ling (Ada Choi), causing much distraught to Yu-yuet. The two sisters began to plot and scheme against each other, with Yuen-sau wanting to keep Ko Lau Fei in the palace and allying with the lunatic Tung Kat Hoi (Kenny Wong) and Yu-yuet planning to send Ko Lau Fei out of the palace with the help of her trusted maid, Yee-ho (Rachel Kan). However, when Yu-yuet found out that Seung-ling fell in love with Ko Lau Fei, it threaten to thwart her schemes.
Production
[edit]Development and casting
[edit]In August 2011, TVB announced the development of War and Beauty II, with executive producer Jonathan Chik and executive scriptwriter Chow Yuk-ming returning to produce.[1] Original cast members Sheren Tang, Charmaine Sheh, Moses Chan, and Kenny Wong expressed their interest in returning.[2] Gigi Lai and Bowie Lam, both whom have won TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress and Best Actor for their performances in the original serial, rejected TVB's offer to return.[3] Lai has retired from acting,[4] while Lam chose to film a mainland drama production instead.[3]
In September 2011, Sheh announced her withdrawal from the cast because she was tied to filming Legend of Yuan Empire Founder.[5] However, it was announced in April 2012 that Sheh would return in a guest role. Maggie Cheung Ho-yee, who was slated to return, also withdrew because she already signed a deal to film Nu Xiang (
In January 2012, Wong was confirmed to return. Christine Ng was cast in a major role,[8] and Alice Chan, was cast to guest star in an episode.[9]
A press conference with the finalized cast was held on 27 February 2012.[10]
Cast and characters
[edit]Some character names are in Cantonese romanisation.
- Sheren Tang as Niohuru Yue-yuet (
鈕 祜祿·如玥), Consort Yue (如妃) — the elder sister of Consort Dowager Shun. She is the mother of the fifth prince and a deceased princess. - Ada Choi as Buyamuci Seung-ling (
布 雅 穆 齊 ·湘菱) — the nanny of the fifth prince. She spreads rumors and gossips of the harem outside the Forbidden City. - Christine Ng as Niohuru Yuen-sau (
鈕 鈷祿·宛 琇), Consort Dowager Shun (淳 太 妃 ) — Consort Yue's younger sister. She is the Consort of the Late Qianlong Emperor and is envious of Consort Yu for being Jiaqing's consort. She spreads fake rumors of her sister within the Forbidden City, in which her rumors constitute the events that occur in the alternate universe of War and Beauty. - Moses Chan as Ko Lau-fei (
高 流 斐) — a famous Kunqu opera artist. Chan portrayed Hung Mo (孔 武 ), a palace guard, in the original serial, and reprised the role in Consort Yue's dream sequence in the finale. - Kenny Wong as Tung Kat-hoi (佟吉
海 ) — a palace inmate who has a mental disorder. He believes Muk-do-yee will be the person that will bring him and his family fortune. Wong portrayed Sheung Wing-luk (常 永 祿 ), a palace eunuch, in the original serial. - Eddie Kwan as Wan Chau-yuen (
雲 秋 絃) — a Kunqu travesti Hua Dan. - Raymond Cho as Yeung Chi-hin (楊梓
軒 ) — an imperial physician. - Rachel Kan as Yiso Yee-ho (
伊 蘇 ·爾 荷 ) — a senior palace maid. Kan portrayed as Ting-lan in the original serial. - Katy Kung as Buyamuci Muk-do-yee (
布 雅 穆 齊 ·木 都 兒 ) — a palace maid and the stepdaughter of Seung-ling. - Wi Kar-hung as Ma San-moon (
馬 新 滿 ) — a eunuch. Wi portrayed Chan Song (陳 爽), an imperial bodyguard, in the original serial. - Vivien Yeo as Cheung Ying-kam (
章 映 琴 ) — Chau-yuen's wife. - Du Yange as Cheung Kuk-sang (
章 鞠 笙 ) — the head of a Kunqu troupe. - Tracy Ip as Giarsin Su-lan (
書 蘭 ) — a nanny who competes with Seung-ling to be the fifth prince's main nanny. - Alice Chan as Kwok Yuen-ching (
郭 婉清) — a songstress, and Ko Lau-fei's lover. - Stanley Cheung as Sit Tung-shing' (薛東
盛 ) — the head eunuch. - Stephen Ho as Buyamuci Ba-chat (
布 雅 穆 齊 ·巴 察) — the husband of Seung-ling and the father of Muk-doh-yee. - Leung Ka-ki as Siburu Yeuk-kwai (
希 卜 魯·若 葵 ) — Consort Dowager Shun's maid. - Christine Kuo as Baigyia Chin-yui (
白 佳 ·芊蕊) — Consort Yue's maid. - Pako Au as Aisin Gioro Min-yu, the Fifth Prince (
五 阿 哥) — the son of Consort Yue and Emperor Jiaqing.
Reception
[edit]While the original War and Beauty was met with widespread critical acclaim, the public did not respond well to Beauty at War. Many blamed the scripting and slow pace of the story for the failure of the series, making it a disappointment despite generating much hype before its premiere. During its 4th week run, the series only managed to garner a 19-point ratings, marking an all-time low for a big budget TVB production. This has caused cast member Sheren Tang to publicly speak out against the drama's producers and scriptwriters for last minute changes to the scripts and the long hours of filming. Not all reviews were negative, however, as the public had also praised the performance of Ada Choi in episode 19, who portrayed the wet nurse, Seung-ling, where she lamented over the loss of her three children, saying that she deserved to win the Best Actress award at the annual TVB Anniversary Awards.
Viewership ratings
[edit]Week | Episodes | Date | Average Points | Peaking Points |
1 | 01-05 | April 22–26, 2013 | 25 | 26 |
2 | 06-10 | April 29 - May 3, 2013 | 22 | 25 |
3 | 11-15 | May 6–10, 2013 | 22 | 25 |
4 | 16-20 | May 13–17, 2013 | 21 | 24 |
5 | 21-25 | May 20–24, 2013 | 25 | 28 |
6 | 26-30 | May 27–31, 2013 | 28 | 33 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "War and Beauty II to hit 2012". Ming Pao via IHKTV (in Chinese). 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "Charmaine Sheh to return for War and Beauty II". Oriental Daily via IHKTV (in Chinese). 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ a b "Gallen Lo and Bowie Lam reject 'Lu for King' and 'War and Beauty II' offers". Singtao via IHKTV (in Chinese). 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "Ada Choi, Tavia Yeung, and Kate Tsui in talks for War and Beauty II". IHKTV (in Chinese). 2011-09-01. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "4 in Love celebrates new year". IHKTV (in Chinese). 2012-01-21. Archived from the original on 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "Moses Chan disappointed with original cast leaving". IHKTV (in Chinese). 2011-10-10. Archived from the original on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "Sheren Tang and Ada Choi joins War and Beauty II". IHKTV (in Chinese). 2011-10-11. Archived from the original on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "Christine Ng joins cast of War and Beauty 2". Jayne Stars (in Chinese). 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "War and Beauty II storyline revealed". Sudden Weekly via IHKTV (in Chinese). 2012-02-24. Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "War and Beauty II costume fitting". Oriental Daily via IHKTV (in Chinese). 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
External links
[edit]- Official TVB Website
- K for TVB English Synopsis and Review